306 THE BIRDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



We met with them only in Kan-su, in the alpine regions, on the rocks, 

 on which they climb about very quickly. These birds are seldom to be seen 

 on the grass-covered ground between the rocks ; and we never noticed 

 them sitting on a bush or a tree. In summer each pair occupies a certain 

 district. The young, after leaving the nest, keep in broods, but do not 

 assemble in flocks even before migration. 



The usual cry very much resembles that of our House-Sparrow, but is 

 much louder. In spring the male sings ver^r prettily, from the point of a 

 protruding rock or stone. 



P. longirostris is very shy, and not numerous in Kan-su ; we saw it 

 most commonly on the rocky localities at Gadjur. Having arrived, on the 

 20th of April 1873, in the mountains south of the river Tetung, we found 

 there the present species. The limit of its distribution is formed by the 

 Kan-su mountain-chain. 



163. LiNOTA BREVIROSTRIS, Gould. 



Henderson & Hume^ Lahore to Yarkand^ pi. xxvi. 



We first met with this species in Kan-su, where it principally keeps in 

 the bare mountains, but descends also to the plains, and does not greatly 

 avoid inhabited localities. In Northern Tibet we found it wintering on the 

 southern slope of Burhan-Bud, and migrating in spring, about the middle of 

 February, in Tsaidam. 



Measurements of a male — length 5'''5, width 8'''5, wing 3'''1, tail (outer 

 feathers) 2''* 6 2, tarsus 0''*6, gape 0'''4. 



164. AcANTHis LiNARiA, L. Chechettka, 



Very common in Northern Mongolia. In travelling from Ala-shan to 

 Urga we met with it about the end of August, in the steppes north of the 

 Uliasataysk road ; but south of that place we did not find it. 



